


Hear No Evil

by Hershey_chan



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf Taako, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Taako, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Injured Taako, M/M, Major Character Injury, Multi, Permanent Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:06:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hershey_chan/pseuds/Hershey_chan
Summary: After the fight with Sazed, Taako had woken up in a hospital with his sister staring at him worriedly, moving her lips in the shape of his name, but all he could hear was some muddled, hodge-podge of meaningless noise.  After telling Lup that he couldn’t hear her – Hachi machi, was it disorienting to speak without being able to hear yourself – she frantically summoned a healer into the room.  And so, Taako the greatest chef in the world realized that he was permanently deaf for all intents and purposes.Finally having had enough, Taako breaks things off with Sazed.  Unfortunately, Taako interrupts Sazed trying to get revenge by poisoning his customers.  The ensuing fight leaves Taako deaf, which he really doesn't mind much at all.  More importantly it leaves him petrified of kitchens, forcing him to leave his restaurant behind and move back in with his twin and brother-in-law.With his life in tatters and his vengeful ex still on the loose, Taako turns to the help of the private detective agency The Bureau of Benevolence.  Can a boy detective and a tall, dark, and handsome bounty hunter really help turn things around?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small disclaimer: I am not deaf, so please correct me if I misstep somewhere. I'm doing my best to be realistic and respectful, but it's likely that I'll make mistakes. A lot of my inspiration and information comes from the YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, who has a really great series of videos discussing her own hearing impairment. She's cute and amazing, so definitely go check out her videos.

Taako sat on his bed, nervously picking at his chipping nail polish while he chatted with Lup over his stone of farspeech.

 

“Have you done it yet?”  Lup’s voice echoed slightly in the small bedroom.

 

“No, I’m still waiting for him to get home...  I’m scared, Lulu.”

 

“I know, babe, but Barold and I are gonna be there tomorrow afternoon to help you get through this, and you can call me back and we’ll talk all night if we need to.  Okay?”

 

“Okay…….”  Taako realized that his hands were shaking too hard for him to even pick his nails, so he sat on them instead.

 

“And Koko?  I’m really proud of you.  You’re the strongest baby brother that a girl could ask for.”

 

“I’m only a few minutes younger, goofus!”  Taako nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the front door open, and he whispered frantically, “He’s home, I gotta go!”

 

Taako tucked his stone of farspeech back under his shirt, and stood up to wait for Sazed to enter the room.

 

Sazed barely offered Taako a glance as he stepped through the threshold and made his way over to the closet.  Taako cleared his throat, but Sazed still wouldn’t look at him. 

 

“Sazed.  We need to talk.”  That got Sazed to turn around and look at him with a frown.  Taako swallowed down his fear and pushed onwards.  “I’ve been thinking a lot about things these past few weeks…  How you’ve been pushing so hard about wanting me to make you a full partner with the restaurant…”

 

Sazed smiled now, rushing over and grabbing Taako’s hands in his.  “You’ve finally come to your senses!!!”  He leaned down for a kiss, and Taako shook his head and shoved the man away.

 

“Fuck no!”  Sazed looked at him in complete shock.  “I’m breaking up with you!  And firing you, shithead!”

 

Sazed turned red with anger and started towards Taako with a hand raised to hit him.  Taako backed away, drawing his wand from where he had it hidden in his clothes.  “You stay away from me.  You’re never going to lay a hand on me again, or I’m going to kill you.  Then my brother-in-law will resurrect you so that my sister can kill you again.”

 

Sazed clenched and unclenched his fists, roiling with fury.  “You dumb bitch!  You’ll never survive without me!  You think anyone else will ever put up with you?”  He scoffed and made a move towards Taako anyway.

 

Taako lit Sazed’s sleeve on fire with a pointed glare.  “I’m leaving for the night.  You have 24 hours to get your things and get out.  Don’t be here when I come back, and don’t ever show your face at my restaurant again.”  With that, he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door with a sense of finality.

 

* * *

 

Taako felt lighter than he could remember feeling in years as he walked in Sizzle It Up!  the next morning, and he greeted Ren at the hostess stand.

 

“Wow, Taako, you sure seem chipper this morning!  What’s got you in such a good mood?”  Ren asked, accent thicker in the early morning.

 

“Oh, nothing big…  Except I finally ended things with Sazed last night!”  Taako expected her to be excited for him, since she was one of the most vocal about her detest for the other man.  He was disappointed to only find confusion on her face.  “Geez, I thought you’d be a little happier for old Taako.”

 

“Oh, heck, you know I’m happy for you.  It’s just…  Sazed showed up this morning and headed to the kitchen to check some of the dishes before we open.”

 

Taako swore colorfully, making Ren laugh.  “I’ll go back there and handle him.  You just finish prepping for opening time.”

 

Taako stomped back to the kitchen and made a show of throwing the doors open dramatically, hoping to startle his ex.

 

And oh boy, did he startle.  Sazed jumped several inches in the air and dropped a bottle that he’d been pouring the contents of into a large vat of sauce.  The bottle landed on the floor and rolled across the floor to stop ominously at Taako’s feet with the label facing upwards, bolding displaying the word “Arsenic.”

 

The doors had already slammed shut behind Taako, and both men just stared blankly at each other for several agonizing seconds.  All hell broke loose.

 

Taako fumbled for his wand, but Sazed was quicker, launching himself across the kitchen to punch Taako solidly in the face.  Taako stumbled back in a daze, which gave Sazed enough time to throw him to the ground and wrap two beefy hands around his throat.  Taako’s hands flew up to try and pry the ones off his throat, but he wasn’t nearly strong enough.  Instead, Taako blindly scratched at Sazed’s face until he felt something give, and Sazed jumped off of him with a yelp.

 

Taako heaved in air as he scrambled back to his feet, and looked up to see Sazed clutching a hand to his left eye, blood dripping down his face.  As Taako sidled back towards the doors, Sazed refocused on him with a livid growl “You cunt!”

 

He dove at Taako again, while Taako turned and made a run for the door.  Sazed caught Taako by the braid, yanking hard enough that Taako let out a yelp.

 

Voice seeming to have reawakened, and he started screaming louder than he thought possible.  “HELP!  REN!  HELP!”  He was dragged deeper into the kitchen by the iron grasp on his hair, kicking uselessly against the floor to try and slow them down.

 

Suddenly a hand grabbed his face and yanked him upwards to look Sazed in the eyes.  “You think I’m going to let some pathetic slut ruin my life and get away with it?  If you love this restaurant so much, why don’t you go ahead and die here?”

 

Taako struggled helplessly against the hand, and he watched Sazed open and oven door and shove his head down.  Rather than pushing him into the oven like Taako thought he would, Sazed placed his head between the frame of the oven and the edge of the door.  Dread flooded Taako’s body as Sazed finally released him, and slammed the door shut, crushing the sides of his skull.  Ringing exploded in Taako’s brain before fading out into silence and numbness, and he went limp as a commotion started by the door and Sazed released the oven door and darted away.

 

Ren rushed to his side, cradling his body gently as she moved him away from the oven to rest on the ground.  Faintly, Taako could see that she was speaking into a stone of farspeech, but he couldn’t hear any sound coming from her mouth.  Not that it mattered much, as he only managed to stay conscious for a few more seconds.


	2. The World's Greatest Detective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako meets Angus McDonald for the first time on his train ride to move in with Lup and Barry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small disclaimer: I am not deaf, so please correct me if I misstep somewhere. I'm doing my best to be realistic and respectful, but it's likely that I'll make mistakes. A lot of my inspiration and information comes from the YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, who has a really great series of videos discussing her own hearing impairment. She's cute and amazing, so definitely go check out her videos.

Taako lazily showed someone his ticket as he made his way onto the train with only two bags on his person.  The rest of his things were delivered separately a few days ago.  He was happy to find an empty compartment for himself.  He quickly spread himself and his belongings and himself all over the seats to dissuade anyone else from trying to sit with him.  He stared out the window trying to convince himself that he was excited for the trip.

 

After the fight with Sazed, Taako had woken up in a hospital with his sister staring at him worriedly, moving her lips in the shape of his name, but all he could hear was some muddled, hodge-podge of meaningless noise.  After telling Lup that he couldn’t hear her – Hachi machi, was it disorienting to speak without being able to hear yourself – she frantically summoned a healer into the room.  And so, Taako the greatest chef in the world realized that he was permanently deaf for all intents and purposes.

 

It was almost funny how well Taako seemed to take that news, especially since he started sobbing when he realized that they’d had to shave his head to treat his wounds.  Lup took one look at his tear-drenched face, darted out of the room, and returned with a pair of scissors that she’d definitely stolen from somewhere or someone.  She chopped her hair off right then in front of Taako in a dramatic show, making him laugh.

 

Now as he sat on the train, Taako ran a hand through chin-length hair in a stylish, messy bob.  He was fortunate to have fast growing hair, but it had still taken him a year and half to get to this point.

 

Taako spent a lot of that time in doctor’s offices and in therapy, learning how to deal with this change in his life.  He now had a few sets of custom-made hearing aids, designed with some extra flair to match his outfits better, and he could enter a kitchen without immediately panicking – though he still couldn’t bring himself to touch an oven.

 

The twins were lucky enough to have learned Common Sign Language from a guardian that they’d had for a couple years when they were kids, and they were even luckier that they’d kept up with it through the years as a discreet way for them to speak privately in public.

 

All-in-all, Taako was doing pretty good.  It didn’t stop him from feeling bittersweet about leaving his restaurant behind and starting over.  He knew that it would do just fine with Ren in charge, and he still shared ownership, but Sizzle It Up! was his passion.  He hated Sazed more for taking away his ability to cook than he did about his loss of hearing.  It was too depressing to live in the house that he used to share with Sazed and too depressing to go into the restaurant without being able to cook, so Taako was packing his bags and moving back home with Lup and Barry.

 

A flurry of movement from outside the compartment caught Taako’s eye.  He decided not to wear his hearing aids for the trip because he found the muffled sounds to be sort of soothing, not to mention that he didn’t really want to talk to anyone.  Therefore, he couldn’t hear what was going on, but he could see a small boy in fancy clothes standing awkwardly in front of the compartment across from Taako’s with a muscular dwarf woman blocking the doorway with her arms crossed.  She shook her head while saying something before closing the door in the boy’s face.  Taako sighed, before getting up to open his own door.

 

“Yo, Fancy Boy!”  The boy looked up at him, looking absolutely petrified.  “You got somewhere to sit?”

 

“No, sir.”  Taako read his lips.

 

“Well, lucky for you, ch’boy Taako is feeling pretty generous today.  Come on in.”  Taako moved back into the compartment without checking behind him.  He waved a lazy mage hand into existence to move his bags off the seats and into the overhead bins.

 

Fancy Boy trotted in with an excited grin on his face, showing off a missing tooth or two.  Taako mage handed his suitcase up and away, too, for which he received a joyful “Thank you!” in return.  The train started moving just as the kid closed the door behind them.

 

“Whatever, kid.”  Taako flopped back into his seat, propping his feet up on the seat across from him.  “So what brings you to this fine choo choo today?”

 

“My grandpa always told me that I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, sir.”  The boy said, looking nervous again.

 

“Well, I already told you that I’m Taako, so if you tell me your name, we won’t be strangers anymore.”

 

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling a little again.  “I suppose that’s true!  I’m _____ McDonald.”

 

For the life of him, Taako couldn’t tell what the kid said his first name was.  He was getting pretty good at reading lips, but sometimes he missed words.  It looked like it started with a long “a” sound, and maybe there was a “g” and an “s” in there somewhere.  Whatever, it wasn’t like Taako was going to see him again after this train ride.

 

“Cool cool, so now that we’re choo choo chums, what’s up?”

 

“I was summoned to help the local militia solve a case of mass disappearances in town, which we just wrapped up, so now I’m heading home!”

 

Taako looked at him skeptically.  “Why would the militia ask a baby for help on a case?”

 

Fancy Boy pouted, crossing his arms.  “I’m not a baby!  I’m a ten-year-old boy.  And I might not look like it, but I’m the world’s greatest detective!”

 

Taako shrugged, “Alright, Agnes.  So you’re some kind of boy genius?”

 

“Not to be arrogant, but yes I am.  Did you just call me Agnes?”

 

 _Fuck_ , Taako thought to himself, _so it’s not Agnes_.  “That’s pretty buckwild, boy wonder.  Respect.”

 

“Thank you, sir!  What about you, Mister. Taako?  What’s your business on the train?”

 

“I’m going to see my sister.  Speaking of, I was supposed to tell her when I left.  ‘Scusi.”  Taako pulled a small, hard-backed book from a pocket in his jacket, and opened it to a page marked with a faintly glimmering pen.

 

Taako scrawled a messy, _Train left a few minutes ago._

 

Taako’s writing slowly faded from the page, and his sister’s familiar handwriting appeared on the adjacent page.  _We’ll be at the station to pick you up as soon as you get here.  Your stuff showed up already, and I couldn’t stop Barry from unpacking._

Taako smiled.  _Nice, saves me the work._

_See you soon.  Love you, dingus._

_Love you, too, goofus._

 

Taako looked up from his message book to see that his small companion had taken out a book himself and was deeply engrossed with reading.  He relaxed further back into his seat, pulling his hat down to cover his face, so he could take a nap before lunch time.

 

__

 

Taako woke with a start when he felt someone shaking him, sitting up so fast that his hat fell onto the floor.  His eye’s met boy wonder’s own alarmed eyes.

 

“I’m sorry for scaring you, sir.  It’s just that they’re about to come by with the food cart, and I didn’t want you to miss it.”  He bent down to pick up Taako’s hat for him.

 

“No worries, kiddo.  I am starving!”  Not that Taako planned on eating _train food_.  Ren had sent him off with a tearful hug and an massive container of homemade food.

 

The compartment door opened, and a woman stood there with a cart full of food and drinks.  Taako didn’t really pay much attention to what she was saying, but discerned that there were two meal options.

 

When asked what he wanted, Fancy Boy flushed and shook his head.  “No thank you.”

 

Taako narrowed his eyes; he had _feelings_ about people going hungry, especially kids.  He turned to the cart lady.  “I’ll take both meals, a water, and some kind of juice.  Dealer’s choice.”

 

She waved a small wand and unfolded a table from a compartment on the floor and placed their order down while Taako got out his coin purse to pay her.

 

After she left, Taako slapped a hand to his forehead, “Oh, I’m so silly!  I forgot that I already have lunch!  I don’t suppose you can help me out by eating some of this food for me?”

 

Taako winking at the boy, pulling out his Ren-provided meal, and spreading all the food out on the table.

 

“Are you sure, Mister Taako?”  Fancy Boy asked.

 

“Ango,” The kid made a face that told Taako that wasn’t his name either.  “I’m a chef.  It’s basically my purpose in life to feed people.”

 

With that, Fancy Boy gave him another blinding grin before digging in.

 

“Did your parents not give you enough money to buy lunch?”  Taako asked after they were wrapping up their meal.

 

The boy flushed, “That’s not…  I was given a per diem for food since this was a business trip, but…  There was a new _Caleb Cleveland_ novel out, and it was an autographed copy, and I just had to have it!”

 

Taako started laughing so hard that he dropped his fork.  “You spent your allowance on a book?  What a nerd!”

 

“It’s not an allowance, it’s a per diem!”  Angus huffed.

 

Taako waved his hand dismissively.  “Same difference.”

 

“No, a per diem is a professional term.  Allowance is something kids get from their parents.”

 

“So?”

 

“ _So_ this was a business trip, which means I got a per diem.”

 

“Well, why didn’t your parents just buy the book for you so you could actually use your per diem on food?  Seems pretty irresponsible for them to send you out by yourself anywho.”

 

Fancy Boy frowned at Taako.  “Well, considering my parents are dead…”

 

Taako had the grace to look a little ashamed for prodding the boy, before he fixed his hat and charged onwards.  “Hey, it’s whatever.  I’m an orphan, too, and I’m basically the best person in the planar system.”

 

Angus was turned away from him with his arms crossed when he replied.

 

“I can’t hear you when you face that way.”  Taako told him plainly.

 

Angus turned back to him with an inquisitive quirk to his eyebrows.  “I said, you being an orphan too doesn’t mean you can just talk about people’s parents like that.”

 

“Fair enough, boy wonder.  My bad.”

 

They were interrupted by the staff coming by to clean up their lunch dishes and put away the table.  As soon as they were gone, Taako stretched back out and went back to sleep for the rest of the train ride.

__

 

Taako woke more gently to being poked on the shoulder this time.  He pushed his hat to the side to squint up at Fancy Boy.

 

“I thought you’d like to know that we’ve arrived.  I figured you might not notice the announcement or everyone leaving on account of you can’t hear.”  He finished his sentence with a smug expression.

 

“What do you mean, pumpkin?”

 

“I mean you can’t hear because you are deaf, sir.  Don’t try to lie to me.  Only, I’m just the world’s greatest detective after all.”

 

“Hachi machi, you sure are.  How’d you figure it out?”

 

Angus looked pleased, “Well, I was a little confused when you talked to your sister with a notebook instead of a stone of farspeech.  And then, I had my suspicions confirmed when you couldn’t ‘hear’ me when you couldn’t see my mouth.”

 

“Pretty clever, Angle.”  Taako summoned another mage hand to gather their things so they could get off the train.

 

“By the way, sir, my name is Angus.”  Angus signed the letters when he said his name this time.  “It was nice meeting you, Mister Taako!”

 

With that, Angus ran off, leaving a mildly impressed Taako in his wake.


	3. Reunions and First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako is excited to see some familiar faces, and a little more than excited for one new one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am not deaf, so please correct me if I misstep somewhere. I'm doing my best to be realistic and respectful, but it's likely that I'll make mistakes. A lot of my inspiration and information comes from the YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, who has a really great series of videos discussing her own hearing impairment. She's cute and amazing, so definitely go check out her videos.

As Taako exited the train, he was greeted by Lup and Barry as expected, but he was surprised to see a massive figure hulking behind them.

 

“My my my, do my eyes deceive me, or did Magnus Burnsides himself make his way all the way out here just to see little old me?”  Taako chanted teasingly.

 

Magnus rushed forward to scoop Taako up, spinning him around a couple times while laughing before pulling him into a bear hug.

 

Taako dangled from Magnus’ arms, looking over his shoulder to look at his family.  “Lulu!  Your hair!”

 

While Taako’s hair had grown out to his chin, Lup’s hair was still cropped short on the sides and back, with it only growing long on the top, which was bleached and haphazardly dyed multiple colors.

 

“It looks badass, right?”

 

Taako shook his head as Magnus finally put him down, “It looks ridiculous!  I’m sorry, but you look like a clown with that haircut.  It is ludicrous.”

 

Ruffling it, she smiled.  “Yeah, like a cool clown.”

 

“No!  No!  Don’t play the Pennywise card like you always try to!  No!  Not a cool clown, like a ridiculous clown.  Remember Mr. Bing-Bong?”

 

“Oh, who could forget Mr. Bing-Bong?”

 

“You look like Mr. Bing-Bong right now.  He would get drunk in the middle of the town, and we would all laugh at him and throw cheese at him, and we hated Mr. Bing-Bong, and that’s who you look like:  Like a bad, drunk clown.”

 

She shrugged.  “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”

 

“I think it looks great.”  Barry chimed in.  “Taako, we got all your things yesterday.  Magnus helped move all the furniture while Lup and I started unpacking.  We’re all ready for you to come home.”

 

Magnus beamed down at him.  “Welcome back, buddy!”

 

Taako smiled back at him.  “Good to see you, too.  You’re carrying my bags.”

 

Magnus picked them up without complaint, falling into step beside Taako as they all started the short walk to Lup and Barry’s place.  It took Taako a minute to realize that Magnus had been chattering this whole time.

 

“Maggie, dear, you do realize that I can’t actually hear you, don’t you?”

 

He looked over to Taako, embarrassed.  “Sorry, I was so excited I forgot that you might not be wearing your hearing aids.  I was talking about the Bureau of Benevolence.”

 

Taako looked at him blankly.

 

“You remember!  It’s the private detective agency that helped me after Julia…  Well anyway, they’re amazing, and I got an appointment for you to go talk to them tomorrow!”

 

“You did what now?”  Taako stared at him incredulously.  “Nope, no, I don’t need any help.”

 

Lup turned around to look at him.  “It was my idea, babe.  We’re going.”

 

Taako glared at her.  “You and Barry have fun then.  Taako is good out here.”

 

“Taako, just think about it.  Sazed still hasn’t been caught, and you know the militia isn’t even trying anymore.  I’m worried about you.  We all are.  Please, Koko?”  Lup stopped walking while she was speaking and approached Taako, grasping his hands and giving him her best puppy-dog eyes.

 

“Nope, no way, not this time!”  Taako crossed his arms to try and stare his sister down.  “You always do this!  You can’t just make sad eyes at me whenever you want me to do something!”

 

Lup’s eyes started welling up with tears, and Taako huffed in frustration, stomping his feet.

 

“Uuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh, fine!”  Taako got right up in her face.  “But I get to paint Barry’s nails tonight, and we’re all wearing matching outfits tomorrow that I get to pick out!”

 

Lup smiled, shaking Taako’s hand “Deal!” at the same time as Barry balked “What???”

 

They all started walking again, Magnus falling into step beside Taako again to chatter away, immediately forgetting that Taako couldn't hear him.  Taako shook his head with an exasperated smile, elbowing Magnus in the side and gesturing to his ears.

 

* * *

 

Taako was so excited the following morning as he got to play dress up with his family that he could almost pretend to forget where they were going.  He could forget until they were standing outside the front door, with Lup and Barry literally pulling him over the threshold while he tried to dig his stilettos into the cobblestone walkway to no avail.

 

They were greeted by a regal black woman with short white hair, who, to her credit, did not bat an eyelash at the scene before her.  “Welcome to the Bureau of Benevolence.  I’m the founder and director, but you can call me Lucretia.  Based on Magnus’ descriptions, I assume that you are the Taako party?”

 

A little out-of-breath, Lup replied.  “Yep, that’s us.”  She elbowed Taako harshly in the gut.

 

Standing up straight, Taako lazily raised a hand, and breathed out a quiet “Hail and well-met” as he took in his surroundings.

 

It wasn’t the largest of buildings, with it being mostly comprised of one open room sectioned into smaller work spaces by desks that each seemed to be occupied by a diverse collection of employees.  There were some doors around the edges of the main room that Taako would definitely be sneaking into later, but for now his attention was drawn to a small figure coming out of one of the rooms carrying a cup of steaming tea.

 

“Well if it isn’t Boy Wonder!!!”  Taako shouted excitedly, darting away from his startled family and up to an even more startled Angus McDonald.

 

“Mr. Taako!”  Angus smiled brightly, spilling some of his tea as he tried to clumsily sign along with his speech.  “What are you doing here, sir?”

 

Taako waved a hand dismissively.  “No need for that today.  I got my aids in.”  He gestured to his ears which were adorned with elegant, gold hearing aids, hair braided neatly on the sides to keep them uncovered.  “They only help me hear shit in a ‘human voice’ range, whatever that means, though.”

 

Taako followed Angus back to a neatly organized desk covered in a lot of nerd junk like books, and magnifying glasses, and _files_.  “Eh, my old buddy Magnus teamed up with my sister to make me come here because they think I can’t handle my own business.”

 

Angus looked at him bemusedly, “You know Magnus?”

 

“Only for like, 12 years.  Feels more like a hundred, though.”

 

“Wow!  What a neat coincidence!  He made me a special desk and chair to fit me better, and he lets me play with his dogs when he comes by to visit Fisher and Junior.”

 

Taako didn’t have time to ask who Fisher and Junior were because he was interrupted by Lucretia, who approached with Lup and Barry.  “Yes, Magnus is one of our favorite clients.  As I was explaining to your family before you ran off, we operate rather uniquely in that we don’t actually charge any strict rates.  After your case is complete, you pay us whatever you feel is fair in whatever manner that you are able.  Magnus, for example, was not able to support us financially, but he made several items of furniture and often comes by to do small repairs for us.”

 

Barry was first to respond.  “How is it that you manage to stay in business when you do so much work for free?”

 

Lucretia smiled a little.  “You’d be surprised.  While many of our clients are not well-off, our more affluent clients often donate large amounts of money to support our mission.”

 

Lup was not even a little interested in that conversation, and instead she nudged Taako.  “So who’s the kid?”

 

Taako threw an arm around Angus’ shoulders, making the boy look up at him in surprise.  “This is Angus McDonald, the world’s greatest detective, and my choo choo chum.”

 

Lup smirked at her brother.  “Ah yes, of course.  The most unbreakable bond.”

 

They were interrupted again by Lucretia.  “Angus is indeed one of our best detectives.  He used to work independently, and he regularly stole cases from us.  We finally decided that we should just join forces.”

 

Taako gave Angus a final, firm pat on the back that caused the boy to lurch forward a bit, before releasing him and stepping back towards the director.  “So how does this whole thing work?”

 

“Well, we have a number of detectives here at the Bureau, and we try to match you to whomever will be best suited to solve your case.  If you’ll come with me, we can discuss –“

 

“I want Angus.”  Taako told her matter-of-factly.  “It’s Ango McDango or no deal.”

 

For the first time, Lucretia looked actually taken aback.  She let her eyes flick over to the boy in question before smiling fully this time.  “Absolutely.  Fortunately for you, he’s just finished a major case and happens to be free.  I’ll leave you all to it then.”

 

As she walked away, Taako let out a breath.  “Well, maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”

 

He was stunned when Angus suddenly rushed him, hugging him tightly around the middle, staring up at him with large, tearing eyes.

 

“What’s wrong, bubbeleh?”  He asked, hands flapping uselessly before settling on the boy’s back lightly.

 

“Nothing’s wrong!  I’m just s-so h-h-happy!”  He sobbed, burying his face in Taako’s stomach.  He mumbled something against the fabric of Taako’s fluttering blouse.

 

“You sure got a weird way of being happy, boychick.  And I hope I won’t have to keep reminding you to look at me when you speak, or it’s gonna be real tough working together.”  Taako lilted playfully.

 

Angus pull back far enough so that Taako would be able to see his mouth clearly.  “No one ever wants to work with me because they think I’m just a dumb kid.  Usually people are requesting to not work with me!”

 

Taako ruffled the kid’s hair.  “Well, that’s dumb.  You’re the world’s best detective, and Taako deserves the best.”

 

Looking up, Taako caught Lup smirking deviously and Barry gaping, and he quickly pushed Angus away from him.  “You’re gonna ruin my shirt!  Now go clean up; you look like shit, nerd.”

 

Angus’ smile didn’t even falter as Taako razzed him, and he simply darted off to what was probably the bathroom before coming back to discuss the case.

 

* * *

 

 

After Angus came back, they all settled into some chairs to give Angus the details of the case.  Despite Taako’s excitement to work with the boy, that minor distraction quickly faded into the back of his mind as he was faced with recounting the details of his traumatic experiences with Sazed.  He did his best to speak, but periodically Taako would stutter into silence, at which point Lup or Barry would step in to fill in the gaps with as much detail as they could.

 

Some parts of the story, though, only Taako could answer.  Angus was patient and gentle, however, so if one line of questioning caused Taako to seize up and go hazy eyed, he would put that question aside for later and wait until Taako looked ready to speak again.  Lup never released her grip on Taako’s hand, even when he squeezed so tightly that she probably went numb.  It was only for these reasons that Taako managed to slowly stutter out the barest details about his final encounter with Sazed in the kitchen on that fateful day.

 

“I walked in and he… he was pouring something into one of the pots…  Arsenic…”  Taako took a shuddering breath, and blinked rapidly to try and prevent any moisture from accumulating and dripping over.  “He…  he beat me…  And then he…”

 

Taako’s throat felt like it was closing up as he recalled that morning, the feeling as _hands grabbed caught his braid and pulled him deeper and deeper into the kitchen to the oven…  a hand coming into his field of vision to crush his face and lower him down…_

Taako was pulled out of his thoughts by Lup squeezing his hand.  He looked over to her, trying to calm his breathing and focus.  _It’s not real.  It’s not real.  He’s not here right now.  He can’t hurt you now._   Suddenly a large, masculine hand reached past Taako from behind to drop some files on Angus’ desk.

 

Letting out a shriek, Taako lurched away from the hand, managing to leap from his own seat to settle on top of Lup’s lap.  He curled in on himself, arms covering the sides of his head as he trembled hard enough that he was sure he would vibrate apart at the seams.  There were voices shouting and _IT WAS TOO MUCH AND TOO LOUD!_

Taako felt his sister moving, and he whimpered, digging his hands into her shoulders even harder.

 

“Shh shh shh, Koko.  I’m not leaving.”  He felt Lup wrapping her arms around him as she stood them both up.  “We’re gonna go somewhere safe and quiet, okay?  That sounds nice, doesn’t it, babe?”

 

Her voice was deeper than usual and soothing in his ear, even if he couldn’t understand everything that she was saying.  It was enough that he managed to coax his limp legs to fumble along as she supported him.  Soon they were in a silent, dark room which seemed to be only lit with a single soft light source that gently faded through a rainbow of colors.

 

“Can you try to breathe with me, dear?  Just like this.”  Lup pushed herself back far enough that Taako could blankly look her in the eyes.  She carefully pried one of Taako’s hands off of her and held it against her chest so that he could feel as she slowly breathed in and out in exaggerated movements.

 

Taako wasn’t sure how long they sat there with him stuttering breaths clumsily against his sister’s face, but he gradually calmed and came back to himself.  As he became more and more aware, he released his bruising grip on his sister and fell against her limply, letting the last of his tears trickle out while she hugged him.

 

“I hate this.”  He mumbled pathetically against her chest.  “I’m Taako.  I’m supposed to be better than this.”

 

Lup pulled him up to look him in the face.  “Don’t you dare talk like that about my baby brother!  You are Taako, and you are so brave and strong.”

 

Taako looked away from her, shaking his head.  “No I’m not.  I just freaked out because some guy put his hand in my space.”

 

Lup cupped his cheeks in her hands, guiding him to look at her again.  “Yes, you are.  And that’s exactly why you are going to be brave and strong enough to go back out there, finish talking to the nerd boy, and then you’re going to give that asshole a piece of your mind for scaring you.  Right?”

 

Taako stared at his sister for a while longer before finally smiling at her and nodding.  “As long as I have you to back me up.  Help me fix my makeup.  I’m about to go to war!”

 

Lup whooped, patting her brother on the back before rifling through her bag for her emergency makeup kit.

 

Taako looked around himself to only then realize that they were in some sort of backroom with a bunch of couches surrounding a large aquarium featuring two glowing jellyfish, one much smaller than the other, which he realized was the sole source of light in the room.  He cast a quick light cantrip so that Lup could see while she fixed his face.

 

* * *

 

Taako strutted back into the main room with powerful steps making his heels clack loudly.  He strode confidently back to Angus’ desk before draping himself gracefully back into his chair.

 

“Oofa doofa, sorry about that, boys.  Taako just needed a quick siesta.  Now where were we?”

 

Angus was practically vibrating with questions, but a quick look from Lup seemed to silence him.  He cleared his throat before speaking again.  “Umm, well, I think Mr. Bluejeans has filled me in on the rest of the details that I need for right now.  It’d be great if you could come back regularly while I work on your case, but you can go home for now if you want.”

 

Taako let out an internal sigh of relief that he didn’t need to dig up any more painful stuff today.  “Good shit, Agnes.  One quick question before I go:  Who the fuck stuck their hand all up in Taako’s grill earlier?”

 

Angus cowered back a little at Taako’s glare, and he weakly pointed to a desk in the back corner of the room.

 

Sitting at that desk was perhaps _the hottest_ man that Taako had ever seen in his life, absolutely the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome.  The man had dark skin with vitiligo in patterns that Taako couldn’t quite make out, and locks pulled up back and adorned with raven feathers.  In fact, Taako noticed that his whole ensemble was black, covering in skulls, and so gothic and extra, and Taako was _into_ that.  Looking over at his sister, they communicated silently through some eyebrow waggles, smirks, and a few quick signs where Angus and Barry couldn’t see them.

 

Finally, Taako turned away from his sister smiling, shouting across the room at the sexy stranger.  “Hey thug, what’s your name? I’m about to beat the shit out of you!”

 

The man looked up briefly, balking, before he turned back to his desk.

 

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t you dare ignore me. Let me get that name real quick so I know what to write on your tombstone after I kill you!  Hey, you heard me! I didn’t stutter. You scared the shit out of me, Bocephus. I hated it.”

 

The man glanced back up, looking even more horrified and actually a bit guilty.  He said something quietly before turning away again.

 

Sighing dramatically, Taako lurched out of his seat and stomped up to the man’s desk.  He grasped the arms of the man’s chair, spinning him around to force him to look at him face-to-face.  “So let me get this straight – or gay, actually – but you sneak up on a deaf guy and scare him, and then you answer a DEAF GUY by muttering quietly facing away from him?”

 

The man stared up at him looking positively horrified.  “I’m so sorry!  I had no idea!  I thought you could hear me when I was walking up to Angus’ desk!  I am so, so sorry!”

 

Taako put on the most aggressive glare that he could manage as he stared down the cowering man.  “I’m going to ask one more time.  What is your name?”

 

“I’m Kravitz…”

 

Taako smiled wickedly, patting Kravitz on the cheek a little harder than was completely necessary.  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?  How about you make it up to me by taking me out for a drink sometime, bone daddy?”

 

Without waiting for a response, Taako reached a hand to the collar of Kravitz’ shirt before dipping his hand under to pull out the man’s stone of farspeech.  Taako pulled out his own stone, leaning farther into Kravitz’ space than he actually needed to, and pressed their stones together.

 

Watching the man’s pupil’s dilate as he gulped, Taako smirked before pulling away.  “The name’s Taako.  Don’t wait too long to call~!”

 

With that, Taako turned and swished away back to his grinning sister and brother-in-law.  Things were finally coming up Taako.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely been blown away with the positive response to this story!!! Thank you all so much for all the kudos and the amazing comments!


	4. Everyone Loves Taako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako takes plus 2 bonds and then rolls a natural 20 on initiative.

The next few days were wonderfully domestic for Taako.  Lup and Barry had both taken a full week off from work to help Taako settle in and to spend some time together.  It was so strange and wonderful for Taako, who honestly forgot how nice it was to live with people that actually loved him.  He never realized how much he missed his sister until they were attached at the hip again, just like old times.  It was like he’d been living in a fog for so long, and only now could he look back and see how bad it had been for so long…

 

Right now he sat on a stool at the breakfast bar next to Barry, watching through the pass-through window while Lup danced around the kitchen cooking.  Taako and Lup were singing very loudly and very off-pitch, which Barry pretended to cringe at while muffling his laughter.  Periodically, Lup would hand Taako something to chop up or a spoon of something to taste.

 

Without asking or making _a thing_ out of it, she cooked only items that did not require an oven (which was kept tactfully covered at all times when Taako was around).  Taako didn’t know how he could possibly deserve the most amazing sister in the planar system, but he wasn’t going to question his luck.

 

“This tastes like shit, Lup!”  He shouted cheerfully after the latest spoonful.  “I told you to add more salt.”

 

Lup smacked his hand with the wooden spoon.  “Maybe you just need to fix your taste buds, bro.”

 

Taako flipped her off, while using mage hand to pour more salt into the pot.

 

As they gathered around the table to eat together, Lup finally broached the topic that Taako had been dreading.

 

“Barry and I go back to work tomorrow, ya’know…”

 

 “I know.” Taako sullenly poked at his food, no longer hungry. “Good!  Taako will finally have some blessed alone time!”

 

No one was buying it, but Lup played along.  “Right?  Who wants to be around their dorky older sister and brother all the time?”

 

Barry nodded, always a good sport.  “Actually, I was thinking maybe it was time to go back to the Bureau of Benevolence to check in.”

 

Lup chimed in.  “Yeah!  I bet nerd boy would like seeing you.  Plus, sexy goth man still hasn’t called, right?”

 

Taako eagerly jumped on the excuse for some company.  “Yeah, I bet Angles needs my help to solve this case.  And I really should give Kravitz a piece of my mind…”

 

“Exactly!”  Lup and Barry both looked relieved that he had gone along with things so easily.

 

No one wanted to broach the topic directly, but Taako had been having nightmares most nights, bad enough that he’d often had to crawl into bed between Lup and Barry to get back to sleep.  Not to mention the incident a couple days ago when the couple had gone to run some errands in the morning while Taako slept in after a rough night…

 

_Taako woke up screaming, pillow drenched under his face from either tears or sweat or both.  He couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming about.  He couldn’t even tell if he was actually awake.  He was disoriented, feeling too hot even as he shivered.  He wanted nothing more than the take a shower and then go straight back to bed, but he knew that Sazed would be livid if breakfast wasn’t ready by the time that he got home._

_Lurching out of bed, Taako stumbled to his closet, peeling his sweat-drenched pajamas off, throwing on something light and comfortable before making his way to the kitchen.  Everything felt off-kilter and hazy like static, and it took him longer than it should have to find the kitchen, almost like the rooms rearranged themselves while he slept._

_His feet stopped against his will at the threshold to the kitchen.  Why was he shaking so much?  Forcing himself forward, he managed to gather the necessary ingredients for a quick and simple coffee cake that he knew was Sazed’s favorite.  However, as he made his way to the oven to start it pre-heating, he felt a panicked sob rip through him…_

_Pushing forward for fear of the repercussions, he got one hand on the oven before the anxiety overtook him and he found himself retching all over the floor.  He had only just managed to stopped his dry heaves when he saw a male figure in the entrance way to the kitchen._

_In a blind panic, he couldn’t seem to remember any spells to clean the kitchen or finish the cooking.  So he did the next best thing:  He ran, bolting through the other doorway in the kitchen._

_He didn’t know which room he ended up in, but he saw a large wardrobe in the corner and quickly tucked himself inside behind all the coats, closing and locking the doors behind him.  Taako tried to muffle his sobs and silence his breathing, knowing he had failed as he felt the wardrobe shaking as Sazed beat on the door and tried to force it open.  He didn’t understand why he couldn’t hear the yelling and knocking that must have been going on…_

_Suddenly the doors swung open, and Taako flinched away from the light, covering his head with his arms._

_“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  He frantically breathed out, a yelp ripping out of his throat as a hand touched his shoulder._

_But the hand was gentle and slender…  Taako pried his eyes open and peaked around his forearms to see the face of his twin sister, not Sazed as he’d feared._

_“L-Lup?”  Taako took a shuddering breath, trying to still his shaking.  “What are you doing here?  Where's Sazed?”_

_She spoke, but he couldn’t hear her voice.  She signed along with her words, though, so he understood her just fine.  “Sazed isn’t here, darling.  You’re safe here with me and Barold, remember babe?”_

_Taako stared at her for a few seconds as she pushed his arms down and caressed his hair and face and back, gentling him as he came back to himself.  After who knows how long, Taako finally nodded and let her lead him out of the wardrobe that he now realized was in Lup and Barry’s bedroom._

_Wiping furiously at his tear-stained face.  “Woof, that was a crazy trip.  I figured those were done with by now.”_

_Lup looked even more stricken than she already had.  “Koko, how long have these episodes been happening?”_

_Taako looked away from her, squeezing her hand.  “It’s fine, Lulu.  I’m handling it.”_

_She crushed him to her chest in a hug, sobbing into his hair.  “I should never have left you alone.  I’ll kill him, I swear it!”_

_The twins held each other and cried, something they hadn’t done since they were kids and they were kicked out by their last relative._

While everyone was kind enough not to bring it up, no one wanted to leave Taako alone again, Taako least of all.  And so Taako started spending every day at the B.o.B. until Lup or Barry came to get him after work.

 

* * *

 

Taako spent most of his time at Angus’ desk playing with some of the knick-knacks on the boy’s desk and doing his best to tease and distract the boy.  He also really like napping in the jellyfish room, but he wasn’t super fond of their downer caretaker, Johann, so he didn’t go in there very often.  Other times, when he was particularly bored and in a good enough mood, Taako would wander into the Bureau’s small kitchenette/break room and cook.

 

It was great because they didn’t have an oven at all.  Instead, they had smaller appliances and a small stovetop, mostly designed for reheating meals or preparing warm drinks.  But he was Taako from Sizzle It Up, aka the greatest chef ever of all time.  He could do magical things with the limited resources, creating delicious goodies for the office.  Those bribes were likely the only reason that no one had revolted and tried to kick him out of the office for his loud and chaotic mannerisms – well, no one except Leon, but honestly, fuck Leon, right?

 

Today’s Taako was just bored, dramatically draped over Angus’ desk, sighing.

 

“Mr. Taako, sir, it’s very difficult to work while you keep blowing all of my papers off my desk.”  Angus chastised him gently.  “I am working on your case, you know.”

 

Taako groaned, lifting his head off of the desk to look at the boy, preparing to bemoan his existence.  However, looking properly at Angus, Taako saw the evidence of overwork:  dark circles, rumpled clothes instead of his usual clean-and-pressed-fancy-lad thing, coffee in place of tea…  That wouldn’t do at all.

 

“Hey, Ango, want to play hooky?”  Taako smiled wickedly at him.

 

Angus looked at him with wide eyes.  “What?  I don’t think that’s allowed, sir.  Miss Director will be very disappointed in me.”

 

Taako stood up and strode around the desk to wrap an arm around Angus’ shoulders.  “Well, I don’t see her anywhere, do you?”

 

Angus nervously shook his head.

 

“Besides, you’re working on my case, and I say that the best thing we can do right now is go get ice cream!”

 

Looking at Taako with a confused smile, Angus seemed a little more interested now.  “But it’s still early in the morning, Mr. Taako.  My grandpa always said that I wasn’t allowed to have sweets before lunchtime…”

 

Pulling the boy out of the chair, and shepherding him to the door, Taako laughed.  “And Taako says you can, so what now?”

 

Twenty minutes later, both of them had ice cream cones in hand – chocolate fudge brownie with sprinkles for Taako and a more conservative strawberry for Angus – and they were walking through the park.  Finally having caught onto the excitement of doing something a little naughty, Angus was happily chattering on and on to Taako.  He was always mindful to fully face him and sign along occasionally when the telltale confused furrow in Taako’s brow indicated that he’d missed something.  Taako never ceased to be secretly amazed at the boy detective, who was effortlessly more attentive to Taako’s needs than even his own sister managed to be most of the time.

 

“And I do _love_ being a detective, but I’ve always dreamed of being a great wizard like you someday, Mr. Taako!”

 

Taako smiled down at the kid, who endearingly smeared ice scream on himself as he gestured wildly.  It didn’t hurt that Angus was being entirely genuine with his compliments, a lovely novelty for Taako.

 

“Well shit, Ango!”  He ignored the little giggle that escaped Angus at the bad word.  “I can teach you magic if you want.”

 

Angus positively glowed as he stopped fully to stare at Taako with sparkling eyes.  “REALLY?!?!”

 

Taako knelt down to look him straight in the eyes.  “For reals, pumpkin.  You should be pretty honored for the great wizard Taako to take you on as his first and only apprentice.”

 

Adding his usual sarcastic flair to the end of his statement to ward off any potential embarrassment, Taako was stunned when Angus dropped the remnants of his ice cream cone on the ground and flung his little arms around Taako’s neck.

 

Even without seeing his mouth, Taako could make out the boy’s next few words.  “You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met, sir.”

 

Taako would never admit to the sudden moisture in his eyes or the lump in his throat as he pretended not to hear the boy and pushed him off.

 

* * *

 

Back in the office, Taako wasn’t sure how to handle this child who kept smiling at him, as he rattled off all of his favorite spells that he couldn’t wait to learn.  Time to change the subject.

 

“Oh, you know what?  Kravitz still hasn’t called me.  Taako doesn’t usually get stood up.”  Taako gestured to the empty desk in the corner that belonged to the man in question.  “I sure hope he isn’t missing work to avoid me, huh Agnes?”

 

Angus spluttered, shaking his head so hard Taako was surprised his glasses didn’t fly off.  “N-no!  Of course not, sir!  Mr. Kravitz likes you a whole lot!”

 

Taako smirked, leaning forward with his chin propped up on his hands.  “ _Reeaaaally?_   What did he say?  What’s the hot gossip?”

 

Angus looked a little uncomfortable.  “Well, it’s not that he said anything specific, but I am a detective, so I could tell just the same.  He asked me a lot of questions about you, sir.”

 

Taako smiled even wider, gesturing for Angus to go on.

 

“It’s just, Mr. Kravitz is too shy to call you.  He thinks that maybe you were still angry and just trying to trick him or something.  I tried to tell him that you wouldn’t do that, sir!”

 

Taako leaned back, looking satisfied.  “Well, I guess I’ll have to call him first, then.”

 

Angus nodded enthusiastically.  “Yes, I think you two will get along very well!  Mr. Kravitz is away doing some field work for me right now, but he’ll be back tomorrow night.”

 

Taako nodded, looking thoughtful.

 

After a moment, Angus added, “He likes wine.”

 

Taako did a bunch of finger guns at Angus, “Hell yeah, little man.  Good lookin’ out!”

 

Seeing Lup waving from the front door, Taako jumped up, ruffling Angus’ hair for good measure.  “Magic lessons start tomorrow, my dude.  Deuces!”

 

* * *

 

That night, sitting in bed waiting for his nail polish to dry, Taako tuned into Kravitz’ frequency on his stone of farspeech.

 

“Yo, bone daddy, I thought I told you not to wait too long to call.”  Taako called teasingly, keeping his voice light and lyrical. “A week and a half is too long to keep Taako waiting!”

 

There were a few moments of silence, in which Taako cursed Angus for misreading the situation.

 

“Taako?”  His stone was specially modified so that glittering text appeared in the air to caption what his conversation partner said.  “I hope it’s not offensive for me to ask how you can hear me over a stone of farspeech…”

 

Taako chuckled, “Nah, that seems like a fair question.  Check it, I got this swag enchanted stone that writes in the air while you talk!”

 

“That’s…  that’s really interesting and useful.  Well, I apologize for not calling you…”  Oh man, but Taako wished that the speech-to-text could tell him was tone of voice Kravitz was using.

 

“That’s alright, my man.  Angus told me that you were intimidated by how crazy sexy I am, and that you couldn’t believe that someone as amazing as me would be interested.  Which I totally get, but you’re not so bad yourself, so believe it!  I thought I’d take pity on you and call first.”

 

“Uhh…  I don’t think those were my exact words…”  Kravitz replied.  “But I guess I’m glad that you called then.”

 

“ _Listen_ , I hear that you’ll be back in town soon, so come at meet me at the Chug N Squeeze down the road from B.o.B.” Taako pronounced it like the name Bob instead of the acronym. “Seven o’ clock, three days from now.”

 

Kravitz stuttered out an affirmative, and Taako promptly hung up and went to go gossip with Lup.


	5. Chug and Squeeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus is one step closer to being Taako's beautiful magic boy, and Taako and Kravtiz have their first date.

Taako strutted into the Bureau with an extra little pep in his step the next morning.  He shot some finger guns at Lucretia as he walked past, and she gave him a dry, disapproving glare even while her eyes sparkled with mirth.  He made his way to Angus’ desk before unceremoniously plopping a poorly wrapped package on his desk.

 

Angus jumped a little as he was startled out of his intense focus, darting his eyes between Taako and the package.  “What’s this, sir?”

 

“Uhhhh, it’s a present, dumb dumb.”  Taako said, staring at his nails to try and look as detached as possible.  “Tch, and you call yourself a detective!”

 

Angus excitedly snatched up the small package.  “A present?!?!  For me?”

 

Taako nodded, not able to stop himself from smiling at the kid’s happiness.

 

Angus carefully peeled off the wrapping paper and used his letter opener to pry the box open.  Inside was a well-worn, basic wand.  Despite its age, it was clearly well cared for, and Angus stared at it in wonder.  “You got me a wand?”

 

Taako crossed his arms.  “No!  That’s just my old beat up wand from when I was a kid.  Don’t make a thing out of it, kiddo.”

 

Angus gasped and gently lifted the wand reverently.  “You’re giving me _your first wand_?  I can…  I can really have this, sir?  It must be really special.”

 

Taako frowned and looked away, hating the fact that Angus would definitely notice the blush spreading across his face and ears.  “Whatever, it was just taking up space in some box in the back of my closet.  But I guess it’s pretty valuable since it belonged to the great and powerful Taako, so you better take care of it.”

 

Angus looked up at him with tears in his eyes.  “I will, sir, I promise!  This is the best gift that I’ve ever received!  Thank you!”

 

Taako cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up.  “Well, what are you waiting for?  Let’s go give it a whirl!”

 

Angus bounded out of his chair, practically radiating pure joy.  He held his new wand in one hand, and used the other to grab Taako’s hand and lead him to an empty break room to start their magic lessons.

 

* * *

 

Taako and Angus sat side-by-side on a bench outside, eating lunch while they took a break.  Taako was pretty amazed at how fast Angus was picking up Mage Hand, though maybe he shouldn’t have been since this was a certified boy genius.  Not that Taako would ever tell that to Angus…

 

Angus swung his legs happily while he munched on his lunch, provided by Taako as always.  “Have you called Mr. Kravitz yet, sir?”

 

“Fuck yeah, boy!”  Taako absentmindedly patted Angus’ back when he started choking after Taako swore so loudly.  “We’re going out on Sunday.”

 

After recovering and catching his breath, Angus smiled weakly at him.  “That’s great, sir!  You’re basically two of my favorite people, so I’m really happy that you like each other.”

 

Taako considered the boy for a moment before responding in an uncharacteristically serious voice.  “Well, honey, Kravitz and I don’t actually know each other that well yet, and it’s the first time Taako’s going on a date since… I just don’t want you to get your hopes up super-duper high and then be disappointed if it doesn’t work out, pumpkin.”

 

A small hand folded around his own slender hand.  “I know that, sir.  But I really think that you and Mr. Kravitz will get along, and I’m a genius so you can trust my assessment of your compatibility!”

 

Taako laughed, ruffling the boy’s curls with his free hand.  “We’ll have to see about that.”

 

* * *

 

For all of his bravado, Taako couldn’t help but be sick with nerves as he sat alone at Chug and Squeeze, watching the minutes tick past.  He had really gone all out when getting ready for the date, wearing one of his most flattering tunics and tightest leggings, heels that made his ass look perfect, and glitter dusting every inch of exposed skin.  When he’d left the house, he felt amazing and excited.  Now as he sat here for longer and longer, waiting on a date that was clearly not coming, Taako felt like an idiot.  He knew better than to get his hopes up.  He knew that he was unlikable.  He knew that no one was going to want him again.  He _knew_ because Sazed had drilled it into his head day and night for years.

 

Taako tried to shake the thoughts from his head just as he tried to swallow back the tears that were starting to form as he realized that he’d been waiting for more than half an hour.  He was about to admit defeat and trudge back home when the entrance flung open and in walked Kravitz.  Breath catching in his throat, Taako took in Kravitz, who looked even more beautiful than he had remembered.  Kravitz stripped off a flowing black coat and made eye contact with Taako across the room, smiling hesitantly at him.  _Ah hell, Taako was fucked._

Taako crossed his arm and plastered a disapproving glare across his face as Kravitz made his way elegantly to their table to sit uncomfortably across from his angry date.

 

Looking abashed, Kravitz broke the tense silence.  “I’m so sorry that I’m late, Taako.  There was unexpected business at the Bureau…  I don’t suppose it would make you feel better if I told you that it was for your case?”

 

Taking pity on the man, Taako finally made eye contact.  “I didn’t know you were working on my case.”

 

Kravitz was about to answer when a server came to their table with two glasses and a bottle of cabernet, telling them that it was “Cab and Vase day,” which Taako responded to with a scoff before taking a huge gulp of wine.

 

“Um, as I was about to say, I guess you could kind of consider me to be Angus’ partner.”  He nervously took a drink from his own glass as Taako stared at him unflinchingly.  “I was actually specifically hired to help Angus.  He might be a great detective-“

 

“The _world’s greatest_ detective.”  Taako corrected immediately.

 

Kravitz chuckled, “Of course, he is the world’s greatest detective, but he’s still a child and it’s often too dangerous for him to do some of the leg work required for his cases.  That’s where I come in.”

 

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.  What did you do before?  I’d like for us to get to know each other better.”  Taako started to work with his clay, gesturing for Kravitz to do the same.

 

“I used to be a bounty hunter.”

 

Taako looked at him in shock, eyes glittering with excitement.  “That’s so fucking awesome, dude!  That’s basically the sexiest job there is!”

 

Kravitz blushed _hard_ , the red showing up clearly in the lightest patches of his skin, and fuck if that wasn’t the most endearing thing that Taako had ever seen.  He was going to make this man his if it was the last thing he did.

 

Taako stretched his legs out for a minute to show them off before he crossed them again, watching with satisfaction as Kravitz eyes tracked the motion.  He leaned into the other’s space a little bit, letting one of his sleeves slip off his shoulder just so.

 

“Here I am, just a washed up chef with a tragic past and you’re some sexy anti-hero or some shit.”

 

“What?  No no no, I’m really just a socially awkward goth.  You’re the amazing one, Taako!”

 

Taako smiled a shit-eating grin, “Aww, that’s sweet.”  Taking another swig of wine, he continued, deciding that if he wanted this to be a real thing, he needed to be as up-front as possible.  “Seriously, though, if you’re working on my case then you know how fucked my life is.  Not to spoil the mood or whatever, but you oughta know what you’re signing yourself up for, babe.”

 

Kravitz looked at him with such honest and open empathy that Taako had to look away, using his rapidly forming bowl as a handy excuse.  “Taako, if you don’t mind me asking…  Why did you stay with him for so long?  It seems like he was horrendously terrible.”

 

“Because I was worried no one else would have me.”

 

“Wow, that was... a very honest answer.  I'm a bit shocked.”  Kravtiz replied, studiously working on his own vase.

 

“Well, I mean, that's the truth. If I can't be honest at the Chug and Squeeze then I- frankly, my man, I don't know where I can.  I mean, when you’re with someone that long…  It’s not like he was always bad.  He used to be so nice, and then gradually…  I was in a shitty situation so long that I didn’t know what else I could do.”

 

Kravitz cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably before replying.  “I can certainly understand feeling trapped in an unpleasant situation.  I was given a pretty... pretty difficult choice when I was faced with being... with the career of being a bounty hunter. I didn't grow up wanting to be that, of course.”

 

“Who does?”  Taako replied in a lilting tone that belied the weight of their conversation.

 

“No, I wanted to be a conductor. But unfortunately, you know, just...”

 

“Oh my god, a _conductor_!  You’re a music nerd!”

 

“Hehehe, yeah, I guess so…  I appreciate you being so open and honest with me, Taako.  I know it’s not easy to talk about this kind of stuff.”

 

Taako let out a huff of air, but before he could start speaking a burly server came up and sternly said “Hey!  It’s Cab and Vase day!  No bowls!”

 

Taako threw a wicked smirk Kravitz’ way before turning to the server, crafting his face into one of confusion.  He made a big show of signing at Kravitz, who played along excellently – Taako could barely contain his laughter at Kravitz’ ridiculous, made-up signs.  Taako turned back to the server, who looked a bit horrified as the elf gestured to his hearing aids and shook his head.

 

“N-nevermind.  So sorry!”  The server almost tripped over himself as he hurried away.

 

As soon as he was out of earshot, Taako let out a peel of laughter that had Kravitz chuckling in response.

 

“I like your renegade spirit.  I guess let’s just enjoy the rest of the class?”

 

“Hell yeah!  Let’s open up another bottle of vino and see where the evening takes us!”

 

* * *

 

They left the Chug and Squeeze a few hours later, arm in arm carrying their respective pottery.  Taako was enjoying a rather pleasant buzz, while Kravitz seemed significantly more sober.  Fortunately, he seemed perfectly content supporting Taako, who stumbled in his heels on the uneven ground from time to time.  In fact, Kravitz was the one who insisted that he should walk Taako home to make sure he got there safely, and fuck that was cute.

 

“Y’know, Ango McDango has been playing a mean matchmaker game.  He really wants us to get together, bone daddy.”  Taako waggled his eyebrows at Kravitz, who groaned at the nickname.

 

“Yes, he’s been doing the same to me.  Not that I took much convincing.”  He smiled gently down at Taako.

 

“I mean, doy!  Taako is basically the single most attractive specimen that has ever existed.  But you’re not so bad yourself.  Like, I dig your style.  Love this whole thing.”  Taako gestured to Kravitz outfit, swinging his bowl haphazardly.

 

Kravitz laughed a little as they continued walking comfortable silence.  As they neared Lup and Barry’s house, Kravitz seemed to get tense and was looking around them suspiciously.

 

“There’s something here.  I feel something, Taako, there’s-“

 

“I feel it, too!”  Taako said happily.

 

“It was – no, not this,”  Kravitz said with a brief endeared grin before growing serious again.  “I feel like we’re being watched.”

 

“Oh, it’s probably just Lup watching us through the window.”

 

“I guess…  Taako, look, I’ve had a lovely evening, but I’d like to scope the area out a little if you don’t mind.”

 

“Knock yourself out, home boy.”

 

“I’ve had a lovely evening.  Do you think I’ll be hearing from you again soon?”

 

“Well, considering you’re working on my case and I literally spend every day at the Bob, I’d say you’ll definitely be seeing a lot of me.”

 

Kravitz laughed, “Well, in that case, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.  Goodnight, Taako.”

 

“Adios!”  Taako said cheerfully.

 

Kravitz pulled away, kissing Taako’s hand before shepherding him toward the front door.  He waited until Taako has made it safely inside before turning to survey the area, worry nagging at him even though the feeling of being watched had disappeared.  Kravitz gut was rarely wrong about these things after his years as a bounty hunter…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy chapter to pave the way for some angst in the future! Next chapter will have the cute kind of hurt/comfort, though.


	6. How to Care for Your Sick Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus gets sick, and Taako makes soup.

Things were going pretty damn great for Taako these days. After his date with Kravitz at the Chug and Squeeze, they had really been hitting it off. They'd been on a few more dates since then, and even though Kravitz was always late (and Taako had started having a lot of fun dramatically acting extremely upset just to watch Kravitz stumble over himself apologizing), the dates all went well. Kravitz was very attentive and sweet to Taako, listening closely to all of his outlandish stories, holding his hand while blushing, and walking him back home at the end of the night.

 

After their third date, Kravitz seemed extra nervous on their way back to Lup and Barry's house at the end of the night. He was blushing and fidgeting constantly, barely speaking even when Taako prompted him. Finally, after reaching the front of the house, Taako turned to Kravitz with an eyebrow quirked and arms crossed against his chest.

 

"Alright, what is up with you tonight? Just spit it out already!"

 

Kravitz jumped slightly, startled at being called out so bluntly. He wrung his hands together for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking up at Taako. He raised his hands up and signed to Taako. "I had a lovely time tonight. I really like you a lot."

 

The signs were clumsy, evidence of Kravitz' lack of experience with Common Sign Language, and Taako just stared blankly at his date.

 

"I hope it was okay? Angus has been teaching me, and I know I'm not very good, but I just wanted to try and - "

 

Kravitz was cut off as Taako flung himself into Kravitz arms and kissed him clumsily. Surprised, Kravitz took a few seconds to respond before smiling against Taako's lips and wrapping his arms around him. Taako pulled back for a second just to start peppering little kisses all over Kravitz' cheeks and forehead and face and lips.

 

Kravitz laughed and said "I sure hope you don't kiss everybody that signs at you."

 

Taako finally released Kravitz and smiled back with a telling moisture in his eyes. "No, only the super sexy ones that learn sign language just for me. No one's ever done something so sweet for me before!"

 

Kravitz cupped Taako's cheek and said quietly "They should. You deserve it."

 

Taako averted his eyes, flushing. "Shut up, you big cheesy idiot."

 

Kravitz chuckled and lightly kissed Taako again. "No, you do deserve it. As much as I'd love to continue, I do need to go home since I need to be up early for work."

 

Taako poured and whined, but released Kravitz. "Fine... I'll see you tomorrow?"

 

"Of course." He switched back to signing to bid Taako farewell and wish him a good night.

 

Taako didn't stop smiling the whole way into the house, waving at Kravitz one last time from the doorway.

 

* * *

 

The next couple of weeks were great, too. Taako and Angus had started having magic lessons a few times a week, and He couldn't help the swelling of pride he felt at how quickly Angus was progressing. Sometimes Angus was too busy to entertain him, and then he would go bother Kravitz for a while. When both seemed too busy, Taako would retreat to the jellyfish room for a nap or the break room to cook.

 

But no matter how busy everyone was, the three always ate lunch together, provided by Taako.

 

Currently, Taako and Kravitz were sitting with Angus between them, nestled in the shade of a tree.

 

"And today I was able to make a large, fully formed mage hand and used it to move some things around!"

 

Taako ruffled the boy’s hair, much to Angus' chagrin, and summoned his own mage hand. "Hell yeah! High five, my dude."

 

Angus summoned a mage hand in return and made it move over to connect with Taako's.

 

Kravitz patted Angus on the back. "That is really impressive to be so far along this early."

 

"All thanks to my magnificent teaching." Taako proclaimed with a flourish of the hand.

 

Angus nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, and as usual his innocent and sincere regard for Taako made the elf embarrassed.

 

"Whatever, stop talking so much and eat your damn food before it gets cold."

 

"But sir, you enchant the food so it never gets cold." Angus pointed out, now comfortable enough to tease Taako back just a little. He still started happily eating, though.

 

Kravitz chimed in then as well. "It's delicious today, as always. I'm definitely going to miss your food when I'm back on the road in a couple days."

 

Taako frowned at him across Angus' head. "Do you have to?"

 

"I do, but I promise it's helping us make a lot of progress on your case."

 

Taako turned back to his own food, pushing it around. "Who cares about my dumb case? You should just stay here instead."

 

"I care about your case, Mr. Taako! And so does Mr. Kravitz!  Right, sir?" Angus exclaimed, turning to Kravitz for support.

 

"Of course, because both of us care about you, Taako. We want you to be safe." Kravitz smiled at his boyfriend gently. "But I will miss you while I'm gone."

 

Taako didn't look up as he muttered back "I guess I'll miss your dumb mug, too..."

 

Kravitz let out a loud laugh and grabbed Taako's hand to kiss the back of it, making the elf flush a bright red. Angus watched the exchange with open delight.

 

* * *

 

Taako was extra mopey for a couple days after Kravitz left again, and he thought Angus must be missing him too since he also seemed pretty low-energy. Neither had felt up to any magic lessons, and they barely talked during lunch.

 

After a couple days, Lup had forced him out of his funk by making him help her make cookies. He helped make the dough and cut the shapes out.  He then fucked off for a while until she finished baking them all, before coming back to help ice and decorate. They ended up doubled over laughing so hard that they were crying after they started competing to see who could make the most hideous cookie. If Taako made a few nice ones that looked like books and magnifying glasses and shit for his favorite tiny nerd, well...  Lup spared him from any mockery.

 

* * *

 

The following morning, Taako strutted in the Bureau with a pep in his step and a large tray of monstrous cookies. He strode past Avi and Lucretia and Killian, making a beeline straight for Angus’ desk.  It wasn’t too surprising to find it empty, as Angus often was in the break room preparing tea first thing in the morning.  When Taako entered the breakroom to deposit the tray of cookies and collect his boy, he was surprised to find him absent from there as well.

 

Avi power walked into the break room, immediately reaching for a cookie.  Taako slapped his hand away, demanding answers before letting him have his treat.

 

“Yo, where’s boy wonder at?”

 

Rubbing the back of his hand where he’d been hit, Avi pouted.  “Madame Director said that he called in sick today.  Can I please have a cookie now?”

 

Taako mindlessly gestured at the tray as he stomped out of the room and over to Lucretia’s desk.  “Hey, is Angus really sick?”

 

She scrutinized him carefully.  “Yes, he is.  It must be quite serious for him to call out, too.  Usually I have to force him out when he comes in sick anyway.”

 

Taako felt a wave of cold dread wash over him.  Memories of feverishly shivering, curled up in the dark shadows of an alley with Lup pressed against his side under their shared blanket, whispering reassurances into his hair.  Memories of breaking into apothecaries to steal whatever medicine he could to treat Lup when she got severely ill in the winter when they were teenagers.  Memories of being sick orphans, with no one to take care of them but each other.  But Angus did not have a twin…

 

“Hey, will you give me the kid’s address without a fight, or should I sneak around and steal it from you so you don’t have to break some confidentiality laws?”

 

She just smiled widely at him and placed a file on the top of her desk before simply stating.  “I think I’m going to go and sample one of those hideous cookies you brought in this morning.”

 

Taako gave her a thumbs up and grabbed the file as soon as she turned her back.  Inside was Angus’ personal information, including his birth date (which Taako definitely did not write down for future reference) and home address.  Scribbling down the address using a notepad and pen on Lucretia’s desk, Taako pocketed the pen and left the B.o.B. with his specially wrapped bag of cookies meant only for Angus.

 

* * *

 

Angus lived in a relatively newly constructed apartment building down the street from the Bureau, and Taako appreciated its stylish minimalism as he made his way up stairs and down hallways until he found a door bearing the number from Lucretia’s file.  He didn’t bother knocking since he wouldn’t have been able to hear a reply if there was one, and instead he just magicked the lock open and walked straight inside.

 

“Angus?”  Taako called loudly, or at least it _felt_ loud since he couldn’t really hear the difference in volume even with his hearing aids in.  He also couldn’t hear a reply, but he didn’t really take that to mean much.

 

Right in front of the entrance was a shoe rack, which featured three pairs of tiny dress shoes – one black, one brown, and one grey.  Taako kicked off his boots and left them where they fell.  Making his way into the apartment, he found it bare of any personality or decorations at all.  There were only the bare essentials of furniture and a single, well-cared-for potted plant in the corner of the living area.  Attached to the living area was an open kitchenette, which was small but functional and thankfully had no oven attached to the stove.  He tossed the bag of cookies onto the little, two-seater table in the living area and made his way deeper.  There was one open door leading to a bathroom, and just two other doors which were both closed.  The first door was a closet of sorts, which he made a mental note to raid later.

 

“And let’s see what’s behind door number two…”  Taako mumbled to himself as he slowly cracked the door open.

 

Inside was a small bedroom, which was a little more decorated than the rest of the apartment.  There were bookcases along every inch of wall possible, full to bursting, and there was a small desk in the corner that was much messier than the one he kept at work.  There was a dresser and closet, which Taako was sure were filled with perfectly organized and folded fancy boy clothes.  Most importantly was the bed nestled into a corner under the only window in the room, with lots of pillows and a few stuffed animals.  Curled up in the middle of the too-large bed was one Angus McDonald, face flushed and sweaty.

 

Taako rushed over and dropped to his knees by the bed, reaching over to cup the boy’s cheeks.  Feeling how hot they were, Taako leaned forward to press his forehead to Angus’ to get a better gauge of his temperature.  _This is bad…_

 

Shaking Angus gently at first, Taako called his name.  When he got no response, he shook harder.  When he still got no response, he swore loudly and ran out of the room with a racing heart.

 

In the kitchen, he went straight to the freezer and found it mostly empty, which only added to his growing dread.  Fortunately, there _was_ a full ice tray, which he pulled out before slamming the door closed and starting to raid the cabinets.  He quickly located a reasonably sized mixing bowl and a clean-looking hand towel.  He dumped all the ice in the bowl and then used the faucet to fill the empty space with cold water.  Bowl of ice water and towel in hand, he rushed back to Angus’ room, heedless of the water sloshing onto the carpet.

 

Taako sat on the edge of the bed, placing the bowl onto the bedside table, dipped the towel into the cold water, and started wiping off Angus’ face and neck and arms – any skin that Taako could get at around the boy’s pajamas.  When the towel began to feel warm in Taako’s hands, he dipped it into the ice water again and repeated the process.  After a while, Angus looked a bit better, and he thought he could afford to stop for a moment.  He placed the folded towel on Angus’ brow and tiptoed out of the room.

 

Pulling out his stone of farspeech, he called Merle first.  “Hey you old piece of shit!  I need a favor.”

 

“Taako, what the fuck?  Is that any kind of way to talk to someone that you need a favor from?  Besides, you expect me to just put aside my very important - "

 

“Let me stop you right there.  I don’t want to hear about your plant fucking.”

 

“I’m not - "

 

Taako interrupted him again.  “Listen, I got a sick kid here, so I don’t have time for our usual song and dance.  Look deep, deep into your crusty old heart, and get the fuck over here.”

 

It was silent for a few seconds before Merle sighed and replied.  “I’ll save the questions about why the hell it is that you have a sick kid for later.  Tell me the address and I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

 

Onto the next most important business.  “Hey Maggie, you free right now?”

 

“Taako!  I haven’t heard from you in forever!  Ever since you got a boyfriend, seems like you don’t need your friends anymore…”  Taako could tell his tone from the sparkling text in the air to know if he was teasing or actually upset.

 

“Look, I can’t tell if your messing with me or not, but it doesn’t matter.  I’m actually at Angus McDonald’s place right now.  He’s super-duper sick, but the dumb brat doesn’t have any food, can you believe it?”

 

“What?  I’M ON MY WAY!”

 

“MAGNUS!  Stop rushing in!  You don’t even know where you’re going or what I need!”  Taako slapped a hand to his face in exasperation.

 

“Right, right…  So where am I going and what do I need?”

 

Taako rattled off the address and a list of groceries and then finally let Magnus rush into action.

 

One last call to Lup and Barry to let them know he was sleeping over for the night (and hanging up before they could tease him too much), and he was done with business.  Now back into the bedroom he goes to keep an eye on the kid…

 

* * *

 

Merle made it there first, though he ended up waiting in the hallway for several minutes because _he was an idiot_ , who spent ages knocking at the door like Taako could hear.  He finally called him on the stone of farspeech to chew Taako out for not answering to the door.  Taako responded by hanging up on him, swinging the door open so hard it bounced against the wall and made the dwarf jump in surprise, and pointed at his ears with a scowl.  Merle had enough class to look sheepish before pushing his way past Taako to get inside.

 

It didn’t take long for Merle to determine that Angus had influenza, which made Taako go pale and numb.  Influenza could kill children…

 

Hands gripped his, and he looked down to see Merle gazing gently up at him in that odd, rare, caring way he did sometimes.  “Now you listen to me.  The kid is going to be just fine.  He has a pretty mild case, and we caught it early.  I’m going to cast cure diseases, and then it’ll just take around a day to clear out of his system.  Okay?”

 

Taako felt shaky and weak, finding it difficult to process the words.  His legs were wobbling, ready to give out, and he was pushed towards the bed to sit down.

 

“Taako.”  Merle was gripping his face now, forcing eye contact.  “I swear on Pan himself that this boy is going to be right as rain by tomorrow morning.  And it’s all because you took care of him.”

 

Taako gulped in a shuddering breath, nodding aggressively enough to dislodge Merle’s gross old-man hand.  He definitely was not crying either.  Nope, not at all.

 

“Well, what are you waiting for?  Make with the magic and heal someone for once.”  Taako stood up from the bed and crossed his arms at Merle.

 

Merle chuckled and did just that.  After a few minutes, he looked up and spoke.  “There’s another moron knocking at the door if you want to get that while I finish up here.”

 

Taako made his way to the door, shaking his head as he opened it, expectantly finding Magnus on the other side holding waaay more bags of food than what Taako asked for.  “When will you idiots get it through your heads that _I can’t hear_.”

 

“Sorry, I just can’t reach the door knob with all these bags, so I thought I’d try.”  Magnus responded brightly.

 

“Ugh, I don’t have time for this.”  Taako pulled Magnus inside and pointed him to the kitchen.  “Put all that away, but leave out what I asked for!”

 

Making his way back towards the bedroom, he was stopped by Merle coming out of the doorway.  “Well?”  Taako demanded.

 

“Look, buddy, I can actually manage a simple cure diseases.”  Merle replied petulantly.  “It went fine.”

 

“Merle!”  Magnus shouted in excitement, forgetting about his task to rush over and scoop the dwarf up into a crushing hug.

 

“Magnus!  You’re killing me!”  Merle was beating at the man’s back with his fists.  Laughing merrily, Magnus placed him down and the two were chatting away like the old friends they were.

 

Taako ignored them and finished his trip into the bedroom to check on Angus with his own eyes, not trusting Merle for as far as he could throw him.  Sitting on the bed, Taako pressed a slender hand to his forehead, finding it much cooler than before, only just a tad too warm.  He sagged in relief, feeling like he could breathe for the first time since he’d been talking to Avi in the break room of the B.o.B.  The form before him shifted, and then bleary eyes blinked up at him.

 

Brows furrowing, Angus croaked out, “Taako?”

 

“Shh shh, it’s alright, bubelah.”  Taako murmured.  “I came to check on you when I found out you weren’t at work this morning.”

 

“You were worried about me?”  Angus’ eyelids fluttered, before falling closed.

 

“Just go back to sleep, pumpkin.”  Taako petted the boy’s hair as he did just that.  Satisfied that he was getting better and was fully asleep, Taako returned to the kitchen to find Merle and Magnus shouting at each other and food scattered willy-nilly.

 

“Hey!”  Taako’s call immediately stopped their fighting and drew their attention.  “There is a sick child sleeping in the other room!  Just go home already, you’ve exhausted your usefulness.”

 

Taako aggressively ignored any and all of their attempts to appeal to him, even going so far as to take out his hearing aids.  He went about the task of putting away all the groceries and gathering what he needed for his famous chicken soup before finally turning around to confirm that Merle and Magnus had indeed left.  Smiling, Taako hummed out of habit as he cooked.

 

* * *

 

When the soup was just about done, Taako brought a small spoonful up to his mouth to sample.  It was delicious, as always, and he let out a satisfied hum.  He turned the temperature down to a low simmer and went to go see if he could wake Angus up enough to eat.  Turning around, Taako discovered that Angus was already up and seated at the table with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

 

Well, Taako didn’t “discover” that, so much as he jumped out of his skin, let out an undignified shriek, and fell onto his butt on the kitchen floor.

 

Clutching his stampeding heart, Taako glared at Angus.  “Holy shit, are you trying to kill me, Agnes?”

 

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Taako!”  Angus got up from his seat, blanket forgotten, and shuffled over to where Taako was clambering back onto his feet.  “I only just woke up, and I heard noises, and then I saw you cooking, and I called for you, only you’re not wearing your hearing aids so you didn’t hear me, and I didn’t want to disturb you while you were cooking, so I thought I would wait and-“

 

“Oh my god, what is it with people today and forgetting that I’m fucking deaf?”  Taako interjected.  “Yeah, I defo didn’t hear you come in or talk to me, whatever, but I also defo did not even get half of whatever you just speed-ran through just now.  Just chill out, boy chick, before you make yourself sicker.”

 

“I’m sorry.”  Angus said, eyes on his feet, and signing this time.  Taako could see the tremble in the boy’s hands and narrowed his eyes.

 

“I’m not mad that you accidentally startled me.  I _am_ mad that you are out of bed when you are still sick, mister.  ‘Tway with you!”  Taako gently shoved Angus toward his bedroom door.  When Angus looked hesitant to leave still, Taako added on.  “If you go lay back down, I’ll bring you a treat with your soup.  Deal?”

 

“A treat?”  Angus perked up immediately.  He rushed to go pick his blanket it up off the floor and dragged it back into his room with him.

 

Taako couldn’t help the smile that stretch across his face as the tiny child nearly tripped over the blanket in his haste to get back to bed.  There wasn’t a tray in the kitchen for serving food in bed, so Taako took a cookie sheet and quickly transmuted it into one.  He piled the new tray with a glass of juice and a glass of water, two bowls of his homemade soup, and spoons.  Then, true to his word, he placed the bag of cookies in the corner.

 

Floating the tray in front of him, he followed Angus into the bedroom and was satisfied to see him sitting up in bed, propped against the way by some carefully arranged pillows.  With a wave, the tray glided through the air and softly touched down over the blanket on Angus’ lap.

 

“Taako’s motto in life is that food fixes everything, so eat up!”  Taako climbed up on the bed to sit side-by-side with Angus and grabbed his own bowl to eat.

 

After the first spoonful of soup, Angus turned to face him and signed while speaking.  “Wow, this is the most delicious soup I’ve ever had, Mr. Taako!”

 

“Obviously.”  Taako scoffed, but was secretly pleased to see Angus eating so animatedly, taking it as a good sign for his health.

 

Once the soup was finished, Angus turned his attention to the bag on the tray.  “What’s this, sir?”

 

“As per our deal, that is your treat.”

 

Angus eagerly pulled open the drawstring at the top of the bag and reached inside.  His first dive brought up a magnifying glass cookie.  He gasped and carefully placed it on the tray before reaching back inside to pull out the rest of his personalized cookies.  After they were all displayed in front of him, he just stared at them open-mouthed.

 

“Well, are you going to eat them or not?”  Taako asked, doing his best to look nonchalant, examining his unpainted nails.  His line of sight was broken when a tiny hand grabbed his own and threaded their fingers together.  Looking over, Taako saw that Angus was crying.  “Fuck, shit, did I do something wrong?”

 

Shaking his head, and swiping at his tears with his free hand, Angus exclaimed.  “I LOVE THEM!”

 

“O…kay.”  Taako was super-duper uncomfortable.  He was barely equipped to deal with a child in the first place, but a sick crying child had his brain screaming _ABORT!  ABORT!_   “Look, it’s not even a big deal…  Lup made me make them…  She really did most of the work…  Just eat one already.”

 

Angus smiled at Taako knowingly, and the elf cursed the blush that he could feel heating the tops of his ears for making him so easy to read.  But like the polite fancy boy that he was, Angus gracefully did not comment on it and just picked up one of the book cookies to eat happily while squeezing Taako’s hand.

 

After that, Angus seemed to have exhausted all his energy and fell promptly back asleep.  After cleaning up and packing away the left-overs, Taako was left with nothing to do to occupy himself and resigned himself to reading something from Angus’ shelves.  He dragged a chair from the dining table into the bedroom and transmuted it into something more comfortable.  Perusing the shelves, his eyes landed on the Caleb Cleveland series.  Remembering how Angus had talked about it on the train that first day they’d met, and it being the only title that he even vaguely recognized, Taako decided that he might as well give it a go.  He pulled out the first volume and made himself comfortable, while periodically looking up to check on his boy.

 

* * *

 

When Angus woke up in the morning, he felt well-rested and cozy.  It was a bit unusual, both since he tended to like to stay up too late and wake up too early and because he had been rather sick the past few days.  He shifted in the bed, stretching, and remembered waking up to find Taako inexplicably in his kitchen, eating some soup, and getting those amazing cookies.  He opened his eyes and looked around, sure that it had been a dream.

 

But there was Taako, slumped over asleep in an arm chair that Angus did not own. In his lap, Angus recognized the first book in the Caleb Cleveland series resting between Taako’s limp hands.

 

Angus hadn’t been so happy in a long, long time, and he was very grateful once again that he had met Taako.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but that's how life just be sometimes... Hopefully this long, hurt/comfort chapter makes things better!


End file.
